Submission of Performance Data to the Canadian Angus Association Using the Online Weight Entry Facility

Canadian Angus Association
Online Weights
Revised June 19, 2008

You must have been set up as an Authorized User to access this facility. If you have not yet been set up with access, please contact our registry for forms to complete and sign, so access can be initialized.

You will enter performance weights by signing on as the Primary Herd ID. If family members or partners raise cattle together but have separate memberships for registration purposes, the performance weight worksheets and result weight and EPD reports are arranged under the Primary Herd ID.

• Ensure that you have credit card authorization or a cash credit on your account before you submit online weight files. Batch files received by CAA without payment can’t be processed.

• Pay careful attention to the date format, dd/mm/yy. The “/” (backslashes) must be entered properly, for example June 19, 2008 must be entered as 19/06/08.

• If your batch contains any records with errors, you will not be able to submit that batch. Fix the errors before you attempt to submit it or delete the record with the error in it. Errors will be explained in red font, and warnings will be explained in green font. A batch with a warning CAN be submitted to CAA.

• There are checks built into the online facility, but further checks will be performed by the Canadian Angus Registry when we import your file.

Once you have signed on, click the online transactions button, and then click on “create a new batch”. You can choose either to manually add records or create a batch from pre-built worksheets. (If there are not pre-built worksheets available, please contact the CAA Registry Department.)

If you choose manually add records, you will type in each calf ID individually.

If you choose pre-built worksheets, your weight worksheet will be provided.

Batch Mode:    Choose to manually add records or
                          Create a batch from pre-built worksheets

Batch Type:     Choose weights

Comment:       Type in any instruction you want the CAA to be aware of, such as the request to rush the file, or a brief description of the data such as “205 day weights for Spring 2008 calves”.

Then click ‘create’. If you choose create a batch from pre-built worksheet option, you may have a choice of worksheets to choose from. Select the worksheet of choice by clicking into the Select box, then click GO. By default, all animals are selected to be included in the batch, however, if for some reason you wish to exclude any animals, simply remove the tick from next to that animal in the column labeled “tick to include.” Once you have selected the animals you wish to include, click on the bottom of the screen into the box that says CONTINUE. You will proceed to fill in the blanks for each calf on your pre-built worksheet, or for each calf if you are doing a manual entry.

If you are creating your batch from choosing manual, then you will click ADD to add weights, and then using your mouse and your tab key to get around the form, you will fill in the blanks as described further down on this document.

On a batch that is being created from pre-built worksheets, you will have the option of entering the weigh date as a default date, if all the animals were weighed on the same day. Make sure that you use the proper date format, so June 19, 2008 must be entered as 19/06/08 — (the backslashes must be included.)

Click on continue, this brings you to the data entry screen. Click into the Record No. field for the calf that is first on the list. That will bring the calf into the data entry screen. Using your mouse and your tab key to get around the form, you will fill in the blanks as described.

The selected animal will be identified by the tattoo and registration number.

Weight type:    Choose Weaning (205) or Yearling (365)

Weigh date:     will be pre-filled based on the default data value you entered when you created the pre-built worksheet. If you are doing your records from a manual batch, you will have to enter the weigh date. The date format is dd/mm/yy. If you don’t follow this format you will get an error notification. June 19, 2008 would be entered as 19/06/08 — use the backslashes.

Weight:            Enter the weight in pounds

Mgmt Group:   You will enter the management group, using numbers 1 – 99. For help, see page 72 of your Canadian Angus Breeder Handbook, or contact the CAA Breed Development Department for assistance.

Weeks
Creep Fed:      Put in the number of weeks of supplemental feeding if applicable.

Castrated:       Default is No, use drop-down menu to choose Yes if applicable.

Castrate date: Enter the castration date if applicable. The date format is dd/mm/yy, if you don’t follow this format you will get an error notification. June 19, 2008 would be entered as 19/06/08 — use the backslashes.

Disposal:         If the calf has been removed from the performance recording herd, use the drop-down menu to describe the fate of the calf.

Scrotal Circ:    Only applicable on 365 day weight worksheet, this is an optional measurement. See page 75 of your Canadian Angus Breeders Handbook.

Scrotal Date:   Enter the date of the scrotal measurement. The date format is dd/mm/yy, if you don’t follow this format you will get an error notification. June 19, 2008 would be entered as 19/06/08 — use the backslashes.

Hip Height:       Only applicable on 365 day weight worksheet, this is an optional measurement. See page 75 of your Canadian Angus Breeders Handbook.

If animal is not already registered, you have the option of registering it on your 205 or 365 day weight submission. If the animal is already registered, this following is not applicable.

Register now:  Choose Yes

                        This will indicate that the animal is to be registered, and you are charged the registration fee as per the current CAA fee schedule.

Animal name:  Provide a name for the animal; if it is red the name must start with the word RED.

Hold Cert:        Y if yes
                        N if no

• Note:    If you are registering the calf, and you are on the Performance Program, you may want CAA to hold the registration paper on file until weaning and/or yearling weights can be printed on the certificate.

After each calf record is filled out, choose from the following update options

Update Options:

Re-display if error(s), otherwise move to next record

If you select GO to this option, it will advise you of any errors that exist so that you can fix up any fields as required. A batch file that contains a record with an ERROR, can’t be submitted to CAA for processing.

Always move to next record:

If you select GO to this option, it will advance you to the next data entry screen for the next record. You could choose this option, and then view any errors at the end of your data entry, before the batch is submitted for processing.

Return to list:

This will advance you to the detail screen for the batch you are working on. You can then edit into a specific record if desired.

DELETE this record

If it turns out that this record is not to be submitted to CAA for processing, and then choose this option.

Submitting the batch:
Once you are finished the data entry for the current batch, and you are ready to send it to the CAA for processing, you will click on ‘view batch summary and batch submission screen’. It is a two step process. The first step brings you to the summary screen, and on the bottom right hand corner there is another button that says ‘submit this batch to Canadian Angus’. Once you click on that, your batch is en route to Canadian Angus.

Batch Status Indicators:

The following is an explanation of the different batch status indicators.

• Initialized
  This means a batch has been created, but no records have been entered in the batch yet.

• Fatal Errors Exist
  This means that the batch has errors in it and you need to fix up the errors before it can be submitted for processing.

• Validated with Warnings
  This means that the batch has warnings in it. You are able to submit a batch with warnings in it for processing however it is recommended you double check the performance you have entered.

• Validated
  This means that the batch has no warnings or errors and you are able to submit for processing.

• Sending
  This is seen for a short time after submitting a batch while the system finishes creating the data file for the batch and sends it to the CAA.

• Submitted
  This means you have successfully submitted the batch for processing by CAA. You are not able to edit a batch that has been submitted; you can view but not edit.

• Deleted
  This means you have deleted the batch.

If you have batches where the status doesn't say "Submitted", it means that the information in the batch hasn't been received by the Association yet.